Swiss Re has appointed Jessica Braswell, MD (pictured above), as senior medical officer for the Americas, effective Aug. 25.
She will work alongside chief medical officer Elyssa Marcus Del Valle, MD, DBIM, to support clients across the region.
Braswell brings 15 years of combined clinical and leadership experience, including expertise in internal medicine, medical underwriting, and risk assessment. Her background includes work in underwriting innovation and claims processes, as well as in insurance medicine education.
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She joins Swiss Re from New York Life Insurance Company, where she served for more than seven years, most recently as corporate vice president and medical director for new business and underwriting modernization.
In that role, she supported the development of accelerated underwriting programs using new tools and data sources, consulted on individual cases, updated underwriting guidelines, and advanced the integration of artificial intelligence into daily processes.
Earlier in her career, Braswell held roles as medical director at Ryan‑NENA Community Health Center, internal medicine physician at Urban Health Plan, Inc, and adjunct professor at the CUNY School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency at MedStar Washington Hospital Center, where she also served as chief medical resident.
Braswell earned her doctor of medicine from SUNY Stony Brook School of Medicine and a bachelor of science in biomedical education from the Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education. She is board certified in internal medicine and obesity medicine.
Swiss Re said Braswell’s appointment reflects the company’s continued focus on supporting clients in risk selection, claims, and related advisory services in the life insurance sector.
Swiss Re operates a global medical officers team that includes more than 20 doctors across over 10 countries, offering clinical insights to support underwriting, pricing, product design, claims and medical research.
In early 2024 the company created a new senior role called underwriting propositions lead for the Americas. Nichole Myers now serves in that position, responsible for coordinating strategic underwriting capabilities, integrating underwriting technology, and improving the customer experience in life and health products.
The firm also launched Life Guide Scout, a generative AI‑powered underwriting assistant that embeds clinical decision support into risk assessment workflows. At the same time, Swiss Re extended its partnership with Appian to integrate its automated life underwriting platform, Magnum, into the company’s Connected Underwriting Life Workbench across selected Asia‑Pacific and EMEA markets.
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